2 x SLI 8800GTS or 1 x 8800GTX?

[dashsmashed]

Howdy all..

going to upgrade my system very soon and looking for some opinions....

i have about £1000 budget and intend to build a system around an E6600...2 gig PC6400 ram..650i MB etc..

I've costed it out and I can just about afford to put in a 8800GTX...

thing is I've seen a pre-built games system for about the same price with pretty much the above but with 2 x SLI 8800GTS instead...

any advice for best bang for buck??

cheers dudes

 

[technicks]

I say go for a single GTX. You will do just fine with one card.
Even a single 8800GTS 640 is really good. Keep that in mind.

 

[DaMulta]

Go for SLi

 

[dashsmashed]

thanks, dude...

this is a little gift to myself...have never had the cash to buy top end before so I want to make the right choice at the right time!

the prebuilt system is 2 x 320 GTS'...

I've always built my on machines before so a little wary of a pre-built although all the components seem pretty decent..

you think the extra pipelines memory clockspeed etc in the GTX outweigh the benefits of having the SLI set-up?

ARRRAGH! lol

decisions, decisions,


then i ge back to thinking... well I could just hang off on the major upgrade and just get a new CPU for my x1950pro(AGP) and wait for prices to drop a little before upgrading the GPU as it's not a bad wee card even with my 2.7 3700 san diego... sigh..

 

[dashsmashed]

lol thats 1 for each side.. arragh

 

[magibeg]

I'ld say go for the gtx, that way in the future if you feel like giving yourself another present you can have SLI'd GTX cards. SLI still tends to give iffy performance anyway.

 

[mello_newf]

I believe the signal gtx would be the better option.

 

[LiveOrDie]

go with 8800GTX its good for the long run and then go SLI later on down the track

 

[hat]

GTX. Less noise, heat, power consumption...

 

[KennyT772]

Go for the single gtx

 

[mitsirfishi]

single card because not all games benifit sli sometimes makes worse performance then one card...

 

[Tatty_Two]

The SLi option is slightly faster across the board but I would advise the single GTX..... the whole point of SLi is to get one card at a time really, as in cheaper path to higher performance, thats not to say that you cant go SLi of course but it would be more cost effective now IMO to go single card.

If I may remark on one other component you are considering, I would go for the E6750 over the E6600 in my opinion, the G0 stepping is really good and you will on average at least match if not beat the 6600 in overclocks whilst running a little cooler.

 

[nflesher87]

GTX. Less noise, heat, power consumption...

exactly what I was going to say, you beat me to it

not to mention the GTX gives you the option to SLI with it down the road when you can get one new or used for much less, whereas with the 2x GTS you'd have to sell both to upgrade

so def GTX without a doubt

 

[Widjaja]

Been waiting for someone to ask this question.
So one 8800GTS 640mb will be better than two 8800GTS 320mb because some games don't use SLi?

 

[Ravenas]

I think this has to be the most asked question on this forum... Get single gtx or ultra.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Been waiting for someone to ask this question.
So one 8800GTS 640mb will be better than two 8800GTS 320mb because some games don't use SLi?

Nope, there is nothing being released now that is not SLi compatible from what I understand and most games that have been released over the last 3 years are compatible, some may not have been on launch but NVidia patched them in driver updates, it is fairly safe to say today, that most, if not all games will be SLi compatible.

the 640MB is a good route to go though, get a single one now for example and a 2nd in the future, of course you could do that with the GTX but the power consumption in the future with 2 GTX's.....

IMO, unless you game at resolutions above 1680 x 1050 (and I see you dont) , there is nothing at the moment that the 640MB GTS cannot run smoothly at max detail.

 

[Easy Rhino]

i would go for the single GTX. less noise, heat and power consumption and you still get top notch performance from the best games currently and in the next couple of years. that way when it comes to upgrade you can get another gtx but i have a feeling you will just sell the gtx and buy a new dx11 card or something. this is why i think going SLI is a mistake. just pay for the top end card now, let it last for 3+ years and by that time there will be new technology that will make your current card look like crap. for instance, look at the top end cards from 3 years ago. then look at the midrange cards that would work in today what would be an SLI or CROSSFIRE combination. its pure crap. you would never want to do that. i have an x1800xt. i could go CROSSFIRE but what would be the point?? no use spending money on old technology.

 

[dashsmashed]

thanks all...

single card it is...and a 6750 me thinks..

now just gotta decide gts640 as per tatty's suggestion or the full bhuna gtx...then there's brand's.... are any more renound o/c ers than others...have been ATI for so long....?